In the early 80's, Jack was nicknamed T-Bond because he used leverage to buy as many 14% T-Bonds as he could. By the mid 80's he bought all the stock he could and, by the late 80's, he and his wife Marilyn invested their profits into 25 beautiful resort condos at Myrtle Beach. The question for smart investors still remains: Stocks, Bonds or Real Estate?

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

I have been blessed in so more ways than I have room to list here. The blessing that hit me today is that I can identify Job. No, I cannot claim to be in the same league as this good man in my righteousness or in my suffering, but it was good to remember the story of Job today.

Marilyn has been suffering from a number of stresses of life. She and I very much want to relieve her stress but the sources are largely out of our control. We have spent the last couple of days at Myrtle Beach. This second week of our "retirement" has been all work with no relief from the stresses of closing down the business that we built over the past nineteen years.

One of the books that Marilyn and I studied within the past few years was, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Like the book of Job, this book lays out the "conundrum" without giving the reader the "answer", except that the Grace of God is really all that matters.

Please forgive me for straying from the theme of this blog. From 12 years of age, I have studied investments. It should be no surprise that my experiences, retained knowledge and developed skills would be apparent after 43 years. However, my important accomplishments over the years have been those things I have done to help others. I hope to do much good for many people during my retirement. I consider this blog as a form of outreach; a way for me to share what I have learned.

Marilyn and I are looking forward to accepting other opportunities to serve. My good friend Ed Tilley, I man I love and respect, has helped wheel chair patients at Forsyth Hospital for many years. I may follow in his footsteps. However, choosing how to best serve others should be a "calling". So far, I feel "called" to share my experiences here, so I spend a significant part of my day posting. I have slowed the rate of posting in recent weeks and somtimes wonder if there is not a better way to reach out. I thank you for reading. I welcome your comments and emails.

I honestly feel that investing is very hard and very easy. Like the basketball “gym rat” who has practiced thousands of free throws and who says that making free throws is easy. It is easy to invest well after you have practiced a number of years.

The bottom line of this story is that learning from ones experiences and those of others is one of the keys to a good life. Sometimes bad things happen but we must do the best we can without worrying about things beyond our control.